AIR FORCE ACADEMY — In the last two days, Air Force coach Troy Calhoun has come off as a publicist for the Colorado State football team the Falcons face Saturday at Falcon Stadium.

He didn’t mention, though, that Air Force has won six in a row in the series. Calhoun would rather talk about the potential he sees 110 miles up Interstate 25 in Fort Collins.

“They’re loaded,” Calhoun said of the Rams, noting he thought former coach Steve Fairchild left plenty of material for new coach Jim McElwain to work with. “They had more players on the preseason (all-Mountain West) team than we have starters back.”

Calhoun well remembers running back Chris Nwoke, one of the preseason choices, who hit the Falcons for 260 yards rushing last season. Nwoke’s efforts went for naught as the Falcons won 45-21, but he made an impression.

“All five of their offensive linemen are 300 pounders, and they’ll try to lean on you,” Calhoun continued.

But he wasn’t pessimistic Tuesday at his weekly news conference, even though the Falcons suffered a 38-35 loss Saturday at Nevada-Las Vegas. The Falcons are playing at home for the first time in four weeks, providing an opportunity to snap a two-game losing streak after losses to Michigan and UNLV.

“There’s nothing we can do about (the loss to UNLV) except learn from it,” Calhoun said. “We just have to keep playing ball and make a few more big plays and stop a few more big plays on defense.”

Third periods have been a problem. Michigan outscored Air Force 14-7 in the third period on the way to a 31-25 victory, and UNLV had a 14-0 advantage in the third period on the way to a 38-35 triumph.

“Our players have to be very precise assignment-wise,” Calhoun said.

A lot has been made of the size disadvantage the Falcons have endured against both Michigan and UNLV. CSU will have the same advantage.

“We’re tiny, but we’re always going to be small in terms of body mass,” Calhoun said. “Our players will have to start drinking an extra milkshake. But this group has a great spirit.”

Calhoun said he would like to have a defensive line that averages 255 pounds instead of 240.

WASHINGTON — Thirty games into the 82-game NHL season, and nearly six weeks after the Matt Duchene trade, Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic discussed the state of his team before Tuesday’s 5-2 loss at the Washington Capitals.